11. Superman appeared in a live-action 15 part serial film in 1948
Aimed squarely at children, Superman appeared as a live action film in 1948, though the flying sequences were animations superimposed on the film. Kirk Alyn played Clark Kent/Superman, though the film credits listed Superman in the lead role. Noel Neill played Lois Lane, a role to which she would return. The serial told the story of Kal-El’s journey from Krypton to Earth, his adoption by the Kent’s, and his discovery of his superpowers. Having decided to use them for good, Superman travels to Metropolis, where he meets Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen, unravels a plot by a villain known as the Spider Lady, and learns of his weakness from kryptonite. The serials nearly all ended in a cliffhanger, shown during Saturday matinees. The film was a huge success financially, the children all anxious to attend the following week to learn how Superman got out of a jam.
The film was successful enough to demand a sequel, which brought back Alyn as Superman, and Noel Neill as Lois Lane. It again featured 15 chapters, most of which ended in cliffhangers, with Superman fighting to save Metropolis from Lex Luther and his collection of diabolical machines. Lyle Talbot played Luther. Talbot had the dubious distinction of playing a major role in Ed Wood’s Plan 9 From Outer Space, almost universally regarded as the worst film ever made in Hollywood. The second sequel, titled Atom Man v. Superman, did not do as well as the first. Superman’s flying was again animated, and whenever he landed from a flight he had to do so off-screen, due to the limitations of the process. Atom Man v. Superman was released in 1950. By then more ambitious projects were in the works.